Randy - Samsung 226BW monitor flickering fix

 Randy

I enjoy doing outdoor things with the family like camping, biking, and hiking.  I like to go hunting, but so far just take Colin hunting.  I enjoy running to stay in shape and keep from getting old - I don't think it's completely working though.  I enjoy accompanying the kids on guitar when they play fiddle tunes.  We have a good time.  I also enjoy programming and electronic circuits.

Today's post is about our computer monitor (Samsung 226BW) that recently started flickering.  First it was only flickering for half a minute when the monitor came out of sleep.  I got around that by changing the setting on the computer so that it doesn't put the monitor to sleep.  That worked for a week or so, but then the monitor got turned off and when we tried to turn it back on it just flickered forever and never fully turned on.  The monitor still showed the picture, but it wasn't very bright and it made me sick to try to use it so I just used the laptop instead.

A Google search showed that this is actually a common problem for this monitor and the typical solution is to replace some capacitors.  I decided to open up the monitor and see what condition the capacitors were in.

First, I just three screws out of the back to remove the base and three more followed by some easy prying with a screwdriver to get the back black plastic cover removed.

Then I pried the left sheet of metal up at the tabs to pop it off.

I unhooked the wires from the bottom left and the bottom right so I'll be able to lift up the cover.

With the cover lifted, now I see two boards.  The one on the left is the one with the power supply (where the power cord connects), so I need to unscrew that one to see the capacitors.

There was also a small sheet of metal at the top of the left board that needed to come out before the board would pull out.

There they are.  And now for a closer look...

These three capacitors are no longer flat on top like they should be, so they'll need to be replaced.  The two on the left are 820uF capacitors.  The one on the right is a 330uF capacitor.

Looks like this one needs to be replaced too.  It's a 680uF capacitor.

And its companion behind it of the same size also needs to be replaced.

Look at that.  This one looks good and won't need to be replaced.  It's 47uF.

And this big one looks good too.












So the capacitors I need to replace are:
one 25V 330uF 105C capacitor
two 25V 820uF 105C capacitors
two 25V 680uF 105C capacitors

The 47uF capacitor is 50V 105C, but it doesn't need to be replaced, and neither does the big 450V 150uF capacitor.

If I were patient, I'd order the capacitors and just install them when they arrived, but I'm not very patient.  I tried to find some locally at Radio Shack, but they didn't have any high temp (105C) capacitors, let alone the right capacitance.  I found a local electronics parts store called The Current Source.  The guy I talked to there has a 330uF 50V 105C capacitor and some 1000uF 25V 105C capacitors.  While reading other forums, I found plenty of people have used 1000uF instead of 820uF with success.  For power supply usage, the exact capacitance doesn't seem to matter as long as it's not less than the original, and the same goes for the voltage.

So I bought four 1000uF 25V capacitors and one 330uF 50V capacitor for $7.60.  The 1000uF capacitors are about the same size as the original 820uF capacitors, but the 330uF 50V capacitor is quite a bit larger because it's 50V.  It still fits on the board though.

This picture is after removing the 820uF capacitors and the 330uF capacitor and installing one of the new 1000uF capacitors.  The circle on the board has slanted lines in the negative half of the circle showing where the capacitor goes.  The capacitors have a band on them with a negative sign indicating which lead is the negative one.  Also, the negative lead is shorter than the positive lead.

 Here's the board with all the new capacitors installed.

I just put it back together and plugged it in to try it out.  It's working great!  A fun way to save $200!

Ooey Gooey

My next animation--with no socks involved.  Caden and I made this movie.  Caden set up the train track and provided the audio, and I animated  it.  I hope to make some more of these (and more sock movies too!)

Betsy's Nightgown

Today I sewed a nightgown for Betsy.It has pink flowers and a green neck hole.Tomorrow I will hem it. Betsy likes it.

Grace

More sock motion!

As promised, here is my sock animation sequel.



This one was fun to make.  I especially liked the part at the end where the black sock gulps down the white sock.  I hope to make a third one, but I haven't thought of any more ideas.  Maybe a green sock will be involved...

Betsy and Bella

Mom made me a baby out of a glove.  And she gave it to me.  I named her Bella.  I like to play with her.  Betsy is the mommy and Bella is the kid.

Betsy (6/20/2012)

I popped my baby.  My baby spilled today because I dropped it on the picnic table and it hit a fork.  It made a big splash all over my mother and my sandwich.

I go-ed to church.  I did play toys.

Betsy (6/24/2012)

In The Cellar by Robyn

This is a story I wrote for the Cricket writing contest.
When I got the letter in the mail that I had won it made me realize that that I like writing and that I can do it.

One stormy night Violet lay shivering in her bed listening to the thunder crashing and the rain pitter-pattering on the roof overhead. Her room in this old house that her family had just moved into seemed empty and eerie. "Oh I wish I could be in our old house where I knew that it was safe," she thought to herself.

Suddenly, as the noise of the storm moved away, she thought she heard another scarier sound. A whimpering noise was coming from the cellar directly underneath her room. She got nervously out of bed and crept toward the cellar to check it out. Before she got there her mother ,who was busily unpacking the kitchen, stopped her.

"Go back to bed, Violet," her mom said.

"But mom..."

Her mom cut her off. "Go back to bed now, Violet!"

Violet went sulkily back to bed.

The whimpering sound continued. Finally around midnight she couldn't stand it anymore! She had to find out what it was! She got out of bed again and tiptoed quietly over to the cellar.

It was pitch black as she entered the cellar. She needed a flashlight. She soundlessly stole back up to her room, got a flashlight out of her backpack and tiptoed back to the top of the stairs leading down to the cellar.

As she entered the cellar something growled uneasily at her from behind the furnace. Violet carefully crept over to the furnace and found the source of the growl and the whimpering. It was a big black dog.

His foot was stuck in a rat trap. She gently whispered kind words to the dog until it let her take his foot out of the rat trap. She found the dog some food and gently led him back to bed. Both Violet and the dog slept well in the safety of each other's company all the rest of that dark night.

Violet was thrilled the next morning when her parents let her keep the dog. They lived happily ever after.

A Psalm of Life

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow circa 1850

I have in my collection a book called The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (comprising his poems from 1839 to 1847).  It has an inscription in the front that says:

Mary L. Cassin 

From Aunt Emily 

Christmas 1896

Its in pretty darn good shape for a 116 year old book, it looks like only the first 20 pages have been read.   I'm guessing Mary used it like I do, as a decoration.  I took it down and actually read some of it the other day.   Mary and I have been missing out!   

 I fell in love with one of the poems, A Psalm of Life.  It's awesome!  The kids and I are now working on memorizing it.  It's got an amazing message and cool words like "bivouac" in it.  What's not to love?!!

A Psalm of Life 

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real!  Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead past bury its dead!

Act, -act, in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lifes of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;-

Footprints, that, perhaps another, 

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.  

PS: bivouac means a temporary dwelling place, like a campsite.  Now I'm off to be a hero and leave some footprints on the sands of time, with deep gratitude for the footprints of others that have given me heart today and everyday!

Kim (June 22, 2012)